This invention relates in general to office supplies and, in particular, to an integrated folder and retaining pocket for holding papers and additional articles.
Office requisites, such as folders and pocket folders are widely used office supplies for holding letters and other documents. Recent developments in office practices have resulted in the need for folders to include the ability to hold other items in addition to the paper documents stored in the pocket of a folder. For example, it may be desirable to hold such articles as a computer diskette, a media storage device, or a photograph, or the like with the folder to supplement the contents of the documents contained within the folder. These additional items should typically be held safely, so that there is a low risk of the item falling out of the folder, and be prominently displayed so that a user can readily identify that the item is present.
In one approach to solving this problem, a separate holder, or pocket, for the particular article may be attached to the folder after the folder has been manufactured. For example, self-adhesive pockets, sized to hold a floppy disk, are available for applying to a folder.
However, there are problems with this approach: it requires either the manufacturer or the user to undergo the additional steps of attaching the holders to the folders. These additional steps either increase the cost of manufacturing the folder, or increase the costs to the user. Either way, the overall costs are higher.
Other approaches have been developed for holding business cards in folders. However, these approaches are not well suited to holding heavier or bulkier items.
Therefore, there is a need to provide folders that can hold such extra items in addition to the papers normally contained therein. The items should be held safely and prominently displayed, and the manner of holding the items should require a small number of manufacturing steps, so as to be easier and less expensive to manufacture.